Spotlight on … Benjamin Weissman Headless (2004)

‘There’s a famous old story about a bunch of blindfolded people standing around an elephant. One person, touching the elephant skin, thinks the elephant is one thing; another person, touching the trunk, thinks the elephant is something else. This goes on and on until the people have a bunch of descriptions of an elephant.

‘To the extent that we’re all blindfolded, and to the extent that the elephant represents something analogous to life, it stands to reason that the more descriptions we have, the greater our understanding of the thing being described.

‘Benjamin Weissman, like the rest of us, has heard the elephant story. He seems to have walked around the elephant and discovered a particular cavity unexplored by his blindfolded colleagues, and not only does he reach in and feel the contours of this particular cavity, he crawls into this cavity with his whole body. Although the elephant he’s describing is not, as Magritte might say, just an elephant, it does exist. And Weissman, blindfolded or not, has seen something. Whether his characters are making sperm bank deposits or recording the travails of a doofus Der Fuhrer, he’s found a part of the elephant that the rest of the sightless rabble are trying to avoid. Maybe they don’t want to go there, but he does. And with glee. And by doing so, the inappropriate becomes, not just normal, but liberating.

‘Weissman’s story collection, Headless, leads us into a dank, squishy, sperm- and turd- and blood-filled world that may indeed be something like hell, but it’s hell with a weirdly infectious story titled “The Fecality of It All,” he writes, “the rear end is the devil’s public address system… and it will always steer us into hell.” In “Pink Slip of Wood,” his narrator fires an employee who, because of his “20-plus inches of erectile furor… (his) Salisbury steak battering ram… (his) turbo sperm log,” is causing the narrator’s once-proud member, nicknamed Kafka—as well as the other employees, mostly named Bob—to feel inferior.

‘Although Weissman’s stories eschew realism, they simultaneously revel in hyper-realistic descriptions of bodily functions in all their unseemly glory. Weissman, apparently an avid skier, litters the slopes of his stories with so many secretory shenanigans that after a while the “rude” and “dirty” and “sick” become normal modes of behavior that may, or may not, elevate and mitigate the pleasure and pain of living. His characters relate in a matter-of-fact way to their sordid goings-on because these things are matters of fact. Boys strangle their moms, the color of snow is yellow, and a quick slice into a jugular vein is part of a precious quotidian existence.

‘The narrator of “Marnie,” enjoying a moment of unusual probity, turns away from the girl he loves to let her swim, in privacy, naked in a lake. He would like to see her perfect body but he controls himself, and it’s not until she dies that he realizes his misguided striving for normalcy, his vain attempt to repress his obvious urges, was the moment he severed himself, drawing the veil between merely existing in life and actually living that life. If civilization, or whatever it is we call civilization, shields us from our basic urges by making them disgusting, Weissman cracks that shield. Which is why his explorations end up, oddly, near the heart. In a voice both erudite and childlike, he accepts the obvious violence in life because it’s the violence of the child and therefore our violence as well.’ — John Haskell

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Further

Benjamin Weissman @ instagram
Benjamin Weissman’s ‘Headless’ by Philip Glahn
Four Stories by Benjamin Weissman
‘On My Birthday’ by Benjamin Weissman
‘Pornography and Professional Skiing’ by Benjamin Weissman
‘Slaves to the Visual’ by Benjamin Weissman
‘Gasstopia: William H. Gass and the Life Inside Language’ by Benjamin Weissman
‘OPENINGS: LAURA OWENS’ by Benjamin Weissman
Audio: Benjamin Weissman on NPR’s Bookworm
Benjamin Weissman @ goodreads
Art collabs by Benjamin Weissman & Paul McCarthy
Paul McCarthy by Benjamin Weissman
Greg Stump’s ‘Fistful of Moguls’ by Benjamin Weissman
‘SNOW PRINCES’ by Benjamin Weissman
Snowflake #2
Intestinal Confessions
We Never Kissed
Buy ‘Headless’

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Extras

Benjamin Weissman & Amy Gerstler on Tea With Tosh

Yutaka Sone and Benjamin Weissman finalizing their exhibition “What Every Snowflake Knows in Its Heart”

Dennis Cooper, Benjamin Weisman, Amy Gerstler & Tosh Berman in conversation

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His art

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Interview
by Raul Deznermio

Both Headless and your previous book, Dear Dead Person, are comprised of stories, often very short ones. What draws you to writing stories rather than, say, novels? And have you ever written longer fiction pieces?

I just started writing a novel and I’m kind of out of my mind excited about it. Progressing quickly. All about hate, but it’s pretty giddy and cheerful. I always and only wanted to write stories when I started writing. Had no intention of ever writing a novel. Stories were all I wanted to write and read. I love the short form, the quick blast. First hero, Barthelme. But now I can see why people write novels, the kitchen sink project is so kick ass. Everything in my experience seems to fit. Tripping me out.

The arc of the stories in Headless seems to move from more absurd/surreal vignettes—like the opening story about Hitler’s relationhip to the sport of skiing—to more “intimate” stories in the final section, “Technically Dadless.” How did you decide the order of the stories?

Dennis Cooper came up with the order. He found cool relationships between the stories. He saw a thread. A loose thread.

Do you have a favorite story in the collection?

Probably the two ski stories and “Fecality of it All.” Not for the content, but rather the kind of sentences the content elicited.

Headless has been praised by literary heavyweights such as Alice Sebold and Bret Easton Ellis. On the cover blurb, Ellis says the stories powerfully depict “what it means to be male.” In terms of book buyers/readers, do you think the stories will appeal more to men or women—or is this irrelevant?

I think it’s irrelevant, hope it is, trust it is. Being male is weird and ridiculous, a freak show, something women occasionally have to deal with in their lives, whether they’re gay or straight. There are aggro men and girly men and manly girls and girly girls and a zillion variations inbetween, way more than two sexes. I think it’s all about whether a story is written well. Good sentences can take a person anywhere.

There appear to be some shared themes in your work with the writings of Phillip Roth—I’m thinking specifically of Portnoy’s Complaint—though stylistically the writing isn’t too similar. Do you like Roth’s work? Who have been some of your inspirations as a writer?

I just read Portnoy’s Complaint for the first time and of course was thoroughly blown away. I had no idea it was going to be that good. He’s a freak and his sentences are badass. I’ve avoided all the mainstream Jews with the exception of Kafka for a long time. Concentrated on German language writers—Bernhard, Walser, Handke, Frisch, Grass, Heiner Muller—and all the strange inspiring Americans: Charlie Baxter, George Saunders, DFW, Janet Kauffman, Joy Wms., Aimee Bender, Vollmann, Lydia Davis, Hawkes, Gass, Edson, Tate, Brodkey, Denis Johnson, Dennis Cooper.

You are one of the first writers in Dennis Cooper’s Little House on the Bowery series. How did you come to meet Dennis?

We met at a literary center in Venice, California 20 years ago called Beyond Baroque. I signed up for an open reading and he was running things. He was very cool and supportive. I also fell in love with my wife at Beyond Baroque—Amy Gerstler, the foxy librarian. Beyond Baroque rocks.

Are you working on any new writing projects?

The above mentioned novel and more stories. I guess that would be two separate manuscripts, and drawings, lots of drawings and paintings on paper (canvas bad, toothy, formal, stern).

Based on the four beautiful illustrations in the book, it seems that your talents are not limited to the written word. Do you spend more time on your visual art or your writing?

Lately I’ve been writing more, especially since this novel is freaking me out, making me feel like joyous eagle boy, but when I’m doing both I’m drawing more hours of the day because I can do it for long stretches of time with music blasting. Writing is so hard core exhausting on the brain (but more rewarding). For me, making art is fun and about a thousand times easier. Thanks for asking me questions.

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Book

Benjamin Weissman Headless
Little House on the Bowery/Akashic Books

‘The author of the acclaimed transgressive cult classic Dear Dead Person returns with this long awaited second collection of brilliantly written, outrageously imaginative and comedic short stories. Benjamin Weissman is one of the true originals in contemporary American fiction. In Headless, he turns his daredevil wit and fearless storytelling gifts on subjects ranging from Hitler’s secret life as a skier to the philosophical musings of identical twin porn stars to the travails of the world’s most sitcom-defying family. Weissman’s dysfunctional, hilarious, and strangely moving tales of life in contemporary America are a real and unique treasure.’ — LHotB

Excerpts

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p.s. Hey. We didn’t get the grant. Apologies in advance for any gloom that seeps into the p.s today. ** Dominik, Hi!!! Thank you a lot for your hopes, my friend. How was your long weekend? Love redirecting his persuasive powers re: our film onto persons with money to spare as yet unknown, G. ** Joe, Thanks, Joe. Really appreciate the good thoughts. ** Misanthrope, Thanks. Oh, right, jonnism! I haven’t talked with him for ages either. He was one of the thousands I stayed in touch with through Facebook until he, like almost all cool people, went full-time elsewhere on Insta or Twitter presumably. Great guy. My chin is slowly moving upwards. ** Nika Mavrody, Same boat. ** Bill, Hi, Bill. Enjoy Hong Kong and spread any news you see fit to. And thanks for the hopes. ** Kettering, Thanks for wishing us so well. Hugs right back. Mine might feel a little drab under the circumstances, but they’re not. Two of my all-time favorite songs are ‘Crossbones Style’ and ‘Nude as the News’. Ellie Bryan … not sure. I’ll use the link, thanks. ‘Gingersnaps’ is fun. I think you’ll think so? Your response wasn’t shallow whatsoever and painting is the best goal. Awesome day to you! ** tomk, Thanks, man. Best laid plans and all of that. ** ellie, Hi Ellie! Thanks, pal. I think if the decision had been on the basis of art, we would have won, but it was about a lot of other factors too, like needing to please an entire committee, and our film is too unique and challenging to do that, I think. When we presented the film to the jury, we could tell that some of them really loved it and that others were very suspicious of it. So, that was that. Yeah, I think Charley’s interviewer was way more interested in coming off clever than actually picking Charley’s brain. But it was a disaster, so he learned his lesson presumably. That’s an excellent werewolf indeed! How are you? How was your weekend? Love, me. ** _Black_Acrylic, Wow, that 16th century werewolf was very convincing. Thanks for the wishes. ** Dom Lyne, Hi, Dom. Excellent, man, so happy to hear that! And gratitude for the positive vibes. I’ll carry them through the next phase of trying to figure out what the hell we’re going to do. Love and other good stuff in full return, me. ** James Bennett, Hi, James. Thanks a lot. It was … uh … well, we did our best. Awesome you like James McCourt. I love McCourt. He’s so extremely underrated. Obviously wonderful influences you’ve got there across the board. Proud to be in there. ‘Too much colour and not enough line’: I know that one, yeah. That is an interesting, tricky balance. But you spotting the possible issue is surely all you need to get it right. It’s true, in my experience, internal cohesion is pretty key and necessary. But cohesion can come in all kinds of ways, not at all necessarily in the narrative, say. You sound really on it. You sound like you’re where you need to be. You make me want to get back into my own fiction. One of these months. You spinning your wheels was/is nothing but a pleasure. Feel free. What’s the latest? ** Nick., Hi. Oh, no problem, time runs differently here for some reason. I would definitely not want to die in an elevator. Or at least only if I had a full pack of cigarettes with me. I didn’t celebrate Thanksgiving or even remember it was happening on the day. So I didn’t even joke-celebrate it, which was a possibility at one point. I’m way into honesty. I’m having to deal with someone who has power over me who is deeply dishonest and that’s turning my insides into a werewolf’s. Helping yourself helps me. Man, that sounds like some banal New Age Yoko Ono aphorism, but I mean it. I’ll stay alive if you will. It’s a two-way street, sir. ** Steve Erickson, It didn’t work out, but thanks. I saw the first 10 minutes of one of the other entries, which was meh, and Zac saw the film that won the grant, which he said was okay. No, we’re in real trouble at the moment. The person who’s responsible for and obligated to raise funds for our film hasn’t raised a penny since May and hasn’t even tried as far as we can tell and seems to have no intention to. When we ask him to raise funds, he flips out and start berating us and telling us we’re greedy. Hopeless situation. So we’re on our own. We’re going to figure out how to move forward this week. We have to, and we will somehow. Curious about your friend’s project. No, I don’t know uloz.to, but it sounds like I should get over there pronto so I will. Thanks a lot for the tip, Steve. ** Michael Turner, Hello, Michael Turner. I think we’re meeting for the first time, yes? Nice to meet you if I’m not mistaken. I guess years ago when I made that post either I spaced out or couldn’t find something about the Quentin Collins example that I thought I could use? But, yes, worthy and missing. How are you? What’s up? ** Darbyy, Hey, hey. Yep, here I am without a grant. Grr, but, you know, onwards and upwards by default. It’s weird but I never think about people looking at the biog on their phones, and I obviously don’t format it to be phone friendly, and I guess I don’t want to think about what I’d have to do differently, but if it works on your phone, that’s great news. And, uh, hm, no, your comment seemed very you. Maybe it was slightly more vertical, but I’m not even sure. If a bat dies in my vicinity, I’ll preserve and ship it. I think the rats/mice got killed by an exterminator. They’ve vanished, for now at least. Happy you liked it! Thank you being here while on the road. Well, I guess you could have been here on your phone while you were home too, duh. xo. ** Damien Ark, Hey! Good, good. If you’d had a Genet book it might have overly influenced you? ** Keith Mayerson, Whoa, Keith! Hi, man, how awesome of you to come in here! I was just talking with someone here about HHU because they were about to read it. I knew you and Andrew are in Riverside. We should meet up next time I’m out there. I was there with my pal Zac shooting a film in Yucca Valley in April/May, which isn’t too, too far away from you. Oh, I do vaguely remember you giving me those paintings for safe keeping, yes. They must be there, probably in storage, yes, as my LA roommate Joel has been basically holding down the fort there for the past 15 or so years. I’ll check with him, and then I’ll probably put you in touch directly with him. Hugs and love and giant respect to you, my friend! I hope I can see you soon! Come to Paris! xo. ** Audrey, Hi, Audrey. That you very much for the good thoughts. I’m sure they helped. Awesome that you like Rivette so much. I love those two films a lot. Great, there are a lot of treasures for you to discover by him. Wonderful! Obviously, ‘Celine and Julie Go Boating’ is a big one. As someone who’s currently compartmentalising my feelings so as to not feel total despair at our not getting the grant, I understand and maybe even speak to the virtues of that approach, at least for the moment. Not a permanent solution though, of course, sadly or not. What you have got this week that you’re excited about? Love, Dennis. ** Charalampos, Hi. ** Right. I suppose it’s a bit odd for me to spotlight a book that I myself published (through my old Little House on the Bowery imprint), but it’s such a wonderful book, and it deserves more readers than it has had in recent years, and it’s still in print, so I hereby urge you to give it and Benjamin Weissman’s brilliant fiction in general a shot. See you tomorrow.